Happy Tech

Lets say, you are walking in a store and are trying to figure out the best wine to get for your dinner. Red or white? Well, obviously the dish will decide that but if you are like most people and you do not have any knowledge on wine what are you to do other than maybe ask someone who might not know that much more then you. Well Imagine having a device that can take all the information from the internet and apply it to real life, in real time. Imagine being able to hold a bottle of wine and have information projected on it that pertains to your personal preferences, in this case that being which wine would go best with a particular dish. All the information about this wine comes to view via a certain device and gives you the knowledge to make the best decision according to what you want.

Well it looks as though a team from MIT is developing a device to do just that. They are calling it  Sixth Sense. And from the looks of things it seems as though the whole Minority Report hand jazz is coming to life. Now, i’m not going to go into all the functions of this device, if you are interested you should really check out the video. It is truly fascinating, and a little scary. But i think like everything else that humans have developed it has its pros and cons.

What i am interested in is what implications this technology will have on humanity. Seeing the way we use and abuse certain technologies  we already have at hand, how will we go about using this one? This technology most likely wont be out for a while so we have sometime to stew over it. But really, how will this effect peoples morality and the basis in which  we we make decisions? In one way, it would make the excuse “i didnt know” obsolete, don’t you think? If people had this accessibility to information in real time and are able to implement it in every day life, it would enhance their ability to make better decisions, or at least ones that could quite possibly be based on the persons intrinsic moral codes rather than their wanting to save money, right? In stead of buying something that is a little bit cheaper, and harmful to particular ecosystem where the product is being made, the person might spend the few extra dollars on the product that is more expensive but has no backlashes on the environment, therefore, weeding out certain companies and products that are harmful to maintaining a certain balance on this planet. In this case, having that bit of knowledge might help the consumer turn to more responsible means of consuming. Instead of our beautiful overkill that we all partake in on a weekly if not daily basis. In this context, this technology, i believe could be beyond anything we have ever come across, at least to my knowledge anyway. It would give people nearly full accountability for what decisions they make as it pertains to knowledge. Either people would have to get really good at lying or it would possibly change everything we know about decision making, whether it be conscious or subconscious.

All  the “oh mans” and “geeeez that is amazing” aside, what could the negative effects of this be? I think it is hard to say for now but, I have my suspicions. In one part of the video they talk about how you would be able to meet somebody and know certain bits of information about that person. If we stretch this a little bit, this will completely change human interaction, not saying that the internet hasn’t already, but this will do so on such an intense level, again, like nothing we have come across. Lets just say this device is out right now. Im at a coffee shop and i bump into a beautiful girl and i have my handy dandy sixth sense and i am able to see certain bits of information about this girl and same with her to me. Im guessing that there would be a way to regulate how much information can be seen by any persons, at any given time. Or at least i hope there will be. Right of the back, all of our interest, blogs we have and god knows what else could be accessible to each other. Now, on one hand all this is really doing i guess, is speeding up the process in which we could get to know one another.  We wouldn’t have to spend however long it takes to find all these things out, at least as far as the superficial things go. Is this a bad thing? I have no clue. But it would completely change the game. Maybe this device would optimize the time in which we get to know one another thus granting us more time to spend with the people we wish? It is hard to fully wrap my head around it. I feel like it could go either way, really. Maybe this might help people find others that have similar interests and personalities? Maybe it will put more weight in developing experiences with one another in a deeper field rather than keeping things at a fairly shallow level which i feel is a problem of modernity. Or, maybe this will push people to be more secluded from one another, and perpetuate this awkwardness that runs through society and meeting new people? Ugh…..what do you guys think? I can see the argument from the “traditional” side but i think the flaw in subscribing to a more traditional view point on this is that it is exactly that, based in tradition. If this technology was going to be used in a daily manner then we would have to completely change the way we do a lot of things. Morals and responsibility i believe would have to be at the top of the things to change. As of now, i dont believe people have the integrity to really use this device in a beneficial way. But maybe, i am missing the point, maybe this is the key to unlocking all of that, or maybe its the key to unlocking Pandoras Box? Aaaaaah!

Happy days for web development firm Smartronix. They put in the winning 18 million dollar bid to redesign recover.gov for the US government.

In a time of economic hardship for many this price tags seems out of line with the typical price of a website redesign. While government waste is nothing new this seems to be a doozy.  Were there no ohter bids? Where does this price come from? While these questions may be obvois issues the real problem is transparancy on both the bidding process and the winning bid. We don’t know what they’re paying for, and will likely never know.

There is a small chance that the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board  will show where each dollar is allocated and how the expense is justified.

See the details: RAT Board Solicitation

Just wanted to take some time and wish Matt a happy 25th birthday.

Facebook is the place to be for many types of people. It’s among the top sites that internet marketers have been turning to recently in order to promote their websites, products, or services. It’s has gained the reputation of a more professional or “adult” version of MySpace for those looking to connect with people they know, others in their industry, or network with professionals.

One of the aspects that have drawn many developers and marketers is the ability to create applications that work with Facebook. There are social applications such as sharing bits of info or pics, fun stuff like polls, and even intricately programmed games.

Facebook has announced that they plan to offer a verification system, whereas developers can have their application reviewed and “verified”. Their application will then be able to carry the Facebook approved symbol, but it comes at a $375 annual fee ($175 for students and non-profits). While this will offer credibility to the application, do you think this will put a hindrance on the popularity of applications? Do you think the smaller guys (and gals) who develop applications are going to be swept under the carpet?

Ballmer sent out an intercompany email and discusses the future and movements of Mocrosoft. The full email is below. 

I will cover the jist of it on a few days with a comprehensive outline of where MSFT is going and how this new direction takes them away from BGC3, Bill Gates new think tank. 

—–Original Message—–
From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:37 PM
To:
Subject: A Platform for the Next Technology Revolution

During the past decade, a dramatic transformation in the world of information technology has been taking shape. It’s a transformation that will change the way we experience the world and share our experiences with others. It’s a transformation in which the barriers between technologies will fall away so we can connect to people and information no matter where we are. It’s a transformation where new innovations will shorten the path from inspiration to accomplishment.

Many of the components of this transformation are already in place. Some have received a great deal of attention. “Cloud computing” that connects people to vast amounts of storage and computing power in massive datacenters is one example. Social networking sites that have changed the way people connect with family and friends is another.

Other components are so much a part of the inevitable march of progress that we take them for granted as soon as we start to use them: cell phones that double as digital cameras, large flat-screen PC monitors and HD TV screens, and hands-free digital car entertainment and navigation systems, to name just a few.

What’s missing is the ability to connect these components in a seamless continuum of information, communication, and computing that isn’t bounded by device or location. Today, some things that our intuition says should be simple still remain difficult, if not impossible. Why can’t we easily access the documents we create at work on our home PCs? Why isn’t all of the information that customers share with us available instantly in a single application? Why can’t we create calendars that automatically merge our schedules at work and home?

This week at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles, we shared news with software developers about a new set of platform technologies that will help transcend these limits. Because you are a subscriber to Executive Emails from Microsoft, I wanted to share my thoughts about the impact that these technologies will have as developers begin to use them to create a new generation of experiences that extend uninterrupted from the desktop to the mobile phone, media player, car, and beyond-to places where we never thought information and communications would be available to us.

A NEW PLATFORM FOR CLOUD COMPUTING

At PDC, we announced the availability of an early preview release of a new technology called Windows Azure. Windows Azure will enable developers to build applications that extend from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and span the PC, the Web, and the mobile phone. For the first time, we shared pre-beta code for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows 7, which is the next version of the Windows desktop operating system, will take advantage of software and hardware advances to help eliminate the boundaries between information, people, and devices.

We also previewed Office Web applications, which are light-weight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that are designed to be accessed through a browser. Office Web applications will be part of the next version of Office and will enable people to view, edit, and share information and collaborate on documents on the desktop, the phone, and in a Web browser in a way that is consistent and familiar.

Windows Azure is part of the Azure Services Platform, a comprehensive set of storage, computing, and networking infrastructure services that reside in Microsoft’s network of datacenters. Using the Azure Services Platform, developers will be able to build applications that run in the cloud and extend existing applications to take advantage of cloud-based capabilities. The Azure Services Platform provides the foundation for business and consumer applications that deliver a consistent way for people to store and share information easily and securely in the cloud, and access it on any device from any location.

Windows Azure is not software that companies will run on their own servers. It’s something new: a service that runs in Microsoft’s growing network of datacenters and provides the platform that helps companies respond to the realities of today’s business environment, and tomorrow’s. Windows Azure technologies are already finding their way into products such as Windows Server 2008 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, enabling organizations and Microsoft partners to create their own cloud infrastructure.

Windows Azure will enable organizations to respond to realities such as the need to use the Web to provide customers with comprehensive information and to interact with an audience that has the potential to expand exponentially overnight; to integrate operations with partners-and sometimes even competitors-to meet customer needs; to add new capabilities quickly to respond to new opportunities; and to enable employees to work efficiently and effectively no matter where they are. These realities apply not just to businesses, but to organizations of all kinds: schools, governments, community groups, and more.

Traditional approaches to building technology infrastructure and delivering computing capabilities make it difficult and expensive to adjust to these realities. You need systems with enough capacity to meet the highest possible demand-capacity that includes servers and buildings to house them, the power to run them, and the people to manage them. You have to spread that capacity across locations so there’s a backup if one part fails. You have to solve issues like access for different types of users and compliance with tax regulations in all countries where your customers reside.

Designed specifically to meet the global scale that today’s organizations require, the Azure Services Platform will provide fundamentally new ways to deploy services and capabilities. It gives businesses the option to take advantage of the capacity available in the cloud as it is needed, reducing the need to make large upfront investments in infrastructure simply to be ready when demand spikes. It will enable developers to create applications that run in the cloud and provide the features, information, and interactivity that employees, partners, and customers expect-no matter how many of them there are, where they are in the world, or what device they have at hand.

SOFTWARE PLUS SERVICES AND THE POWER OF CHOICE

The Azure Services Platform reflects our belief that choice is critical for developers, companies, and consumers. It is also based on our belief that the key to delivering value today and in the future lies in combining the best aspects of software running on PCs, servers, and devices with the best aspects of services running on the Web-an approach we call “software plus services.”

Our software plus services approach lets people take full advantage of the incredible power of today’s devices. While there are undeniable benefits to being able to tap into the wealth of information and services that can be accessed over the Web through a browser, the interactive experiences that people expect on their PC, mobile phone, and media player depend on sophisticated software running on powerful processors.

The richness of these experiences will only increase as multicore processors expand the computing capabilities of our devices and new programming languages open the door to a new generation of applications that let us use more natural ways to interact with digital technology such as voice, touch, and gestures.

Software plus services also recognizes that for most companies, the ideal way to build IT infrastructure is to find the right balance of applications that are run and managed within the organization and applications that are run and managed in the cloud.

This balance varies by company. A financial services company may choose to maintain customer records within its own datacenter to provide the extra layers of protection that it feels are needed to safeguard the privacy of personal information. It may outsource IT systems that provide basic capabilities such as email.

This balance will change over time within an organization, as well. A company may run its own online transaction system most of the year, but outsource for added capacity to meet extra demand during the holiday season. With software plus services, an organization can move applications back and forth between its own servers and the cloud quickly and smoothly.

Today, companies around the world are implementing Microsoft technologies to take advantage of the best combination of on-premise software and cloud-based services. Using Microsoft Online Services, businesses including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Blockbuster, and Energizer access and manage Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Server, and Live Meeting over the Web through a single, secure infrastructure. In addition, 1 million people rely on Office Live Workspace for sharing and collaborating with friends, family, and colleagues.

EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF PERSONAL COMPUTING

Ultimately, the reason to create a cloud services platform is to continue to enhance the value that computing delivers, whether it’s by improving productivity, making it easier to communicate with colleagues, or simplifying the way we access information and respond to changing business conditions.

In the world of software plus services and cloud computing, this means extending the definition of personal computing beyond the PC to include the Web and an ever-growing array of devices. Our goal is to make the combination of PCs, mobile devices, and the Web something that is significantly than more the sum of its parts.

The starting point is to recognize the unique value of each part. The value of the PC lies in its computing power, its storage capacity, and its ability to help us be more productive and create and consume rich and complex documents and content.

For the Web, it’s the ability to bring together people, information, and services so we can connect, communicate, share, and transact with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

With the mobile phone and other devices, it’s the ability to take action spontaneously-to make a call, take a picture, or send a text message in the flow of our activities.

Through Live Mesh-a service from Microsoft that we announced earlier this year and about which we shared new information week-we’re beginning to bridge the PC, phone, and Web and create this next generation of connected experiences. Built on the Azure Services Platform, Live Mesh enables you to use programs and information stored on your work computer from your home PC, and vice versa. With Live Mesh, you can share folders and ensure that the information is automatically synchronized across your devices.

Live Mesh hints at how our lives will be transformed as the barriers between devices disappear and the option to connect instantly to people, devices, programs, and information becomes a reality.

We’re not quite there yet. Today, the Azure Services Platform is available only as a limited technology preview release. But as developers begin to combine the capabilities of this new platform with the amazing ongoing hardware and software innovations that we are seeing from companies across the industry, it will bring us significantly closer to the time when information, communication, and computing flows along with us seamlessly as we move through our day-to-day activities.

You can learn more about these technologies and the progress we are making by visiting the Microsoft Software + Services Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/softwareplusservices/.

I look forward to sharing more information with you about these new technologies in the near future.

Steve Ballmer

After reading the above email how do you feel about the future of web and desktop apps?

Get ready to be bombarded with Androids and we are not talking about any science fiction here. Details on the first Android phone are coming out and normally we wouldnt rehash what almost every other blogger is sure to cover but we are pretty excited to see this thing and we believe it will be a game changer for Google.  T-Mobile has officially pulled back the curtain on the first Android with specs and details.

It will be exciting to see the guys at XDA-Developers to get a hold of this and do some magic with the current lineup of windows mobile phone though you shouldnt expect anything stable for quite sometime. 

What we already know:

• One touch access to: Search, Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Calendar, and Google Talk
• Gmail account and data plan required
• True GPS Built In (not the cheap triangulation method)
• 3.1 mp camera without video recording though this is expected to be updated
• No stereo bluetooth otherwise known as A2DP. Big feature to be missing. 
• Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
• Weighs a hefty 5.6 ounces
• 480×320 65K color screen
• 5 hour talk time and 130 hour standy
• Expandable up to 8GB with minisd

If you cant wait until the Android platform is released go ahead and check out the SDK and get a head start with the new platform.

Link

One of the funny things about the Sprint HTC Mogul is that it ships with a built in GPS device without any functioning software. While Sprint has mentioned they plan on turning this feature on with an update sometime in 2008 we no longer need to wait for this to happen.

Nav4all is a currently free GPS mapping software that supports many phone and I have just recently successfully installed in on my HTC mogul. To do so just navigate to www.nav4all.com on your mobile device and proceed to download and install the application. It will take about 5-10 minutes to go through all the menus and install features with the biggest issue being that you have to scroll through a lot of different language choices.

In the few minutes of having this installed I have tried unsuccessfully integrating this with Google Maps as the Google Maps program continues to search for GPS Satellites. This is no big deal but something I thought would be nice if it could somehow use the Nav4all GPS software to communicate to the satellites.

**Update**

It looks like there may be a few bugs with this still. After I initially setup the program and set my home address with working local maps I closed the application and tried to see if Google Maps would read it. When I went to reload the application it did not save any of the settings I had originally set. I then recieved a “No GPS Sensor has been coupled!” error. I was able to grab some pics tures of this working and will upload load those soon.

Looks like this one is not ready yet but is something to keep an eye on. There is also a long list of supported devices in the Nav4all site, the HTC Mogul is NOT on of them, yet.

**Update 2**

I un-installed and reinstalled hoping that would solve the problem but now the program will not load the GPS data and I continue to get the “No GPS sensor has been coupled” error.  I have gone ahead and removed this program and will just have to wait for Sprint to get around to releasing the official GPS update.

If you need to have a conference call there are a few services out there that offer some great services for free. One such service that we use is freeconference.com. They will allow you to have a phone number and a numerical password to use anytime without limitations. This is great for those last minute calls you need to create.

They also offer a service that you can invite people directly through their system and they will get a nice invitation from them with the time and code to enter. If your callers need the ability to dial in for free they do have the ability to offer an 800 toll free number but this service does carry a small fee.

Overall if you are in need for a conference call system on the cheap freeconference.com is the way to go.

If you use Skype then this isnt news to you. To everyone else listen up: Skype is a phone service where you can call any skype member free worldwide, think of free mobile to mobile but on a much larger scale. You can also call anyone within the US for 36 bucks a year, thats unlimited calls folks. You can aslo get unlimited incoming minutes with a local phone number from almost any area code you like for another one time fee of about 40 bucks. You can purchase up to 10 phone numbers so you can have a Florida area code so when Granny calls she wont pay long distance, you can set up a New York area code so local business will think you have a local office and so on.

The only catch is you need a wireless network for this to work. Luckily you most likely already have one, if not they are easy to setup. Then you need a phone like this one that Amazon has on sale for 89.99 with free shipping and no tax.

So this is what you need:

1. Wireless Home or Office Network
2. Skype Wireless phone
3. Skype account in good standing with SkypeIn and SkypeOut

With the exception of the one time fee for the phone you can have unlimited nationwide long distance for less than 100 bucks a year.

Lets see any VOIP provider top that, what a minute I think I know of a way to get all of this for free….. A detailed post will follow that will show how to get unlimited long distance, a new local number and a completely free phone service.